History

An organizational meeting was held on Sept. 24th, 1974. Mr. Wahl from Weyburn headquarters was present to offer guidance. The first library board consisted of Mr. Miles (president), Hilda Carlson (Vice-president), Judy Dzuba (librarian and board secretary), Ed Gough, Monica Trach, Cora Lee, and Tom Gambles. The library officially opened on Nov. 15th, 1975 in the Senior Citizens building. Librarians were Hilda Carlson (1975-1990) and Shirley Tuchscherer (1990-present). The hours were 2-5 P.M. (Mondays and Thursdays), and 6-9 P.M. Tuesday evenings. The towns library needs were previously met with the service of a bookmobile. The library week in 1975 consisted of a display of books at the Senior Citizen's St. Patrick Day Tea.

The library was housed at this location in front of the 55 & over Center for the past 29 years. The area was very small, and seemed even smaller when the library was automated with computers. The councils of the Town of Bienfait and the R.M. of Coalfields #4 worked together to make it possible to move the library to a better facility. The old fire hall beside the Town Office was decided as the location of the new library. After extensive renovations the library was officially moved to the new location and began operations there on Dec. 1st, 2003. With the increased area, the library will be able to offer more programs, more computers for public use, plus a much larger selection of library materials. The new library is also completely handicapped accessible.

With the move to the new and vastly improved library facility, the board is planning on offering many new and exciting programs for all ages. Also they will be lobbying for additional computers for public use. With the expected increase in usage, they also hope to increase the hours of operation.